Galahad's

     I used the term fat reduction here because I do have some bad news for you. Fat is not really lost. Once fat cells are created in your body, they do not simply go away. However, the good news is that they can shrink to just about nothing. Another downside to starting off with an abundance of fat cells is that those cells are more likely to refill themselves if given the chance.

 

     That is why most people yo-yo on diets. If you want real and permanent results, you don’t merely diet. Diets are short-term. Everything that I am explaining here can be used as a diet, but really, they should be incorporated into a lifestyle change. Make them permanent staples in your life.

 

     To get quicker, real and lasting results you need to be more active. Your body uses more calories the more active you are. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.

 

     I have one activity that you must do every day. You do it all the time, but probably not quite to this extent. You need to walk.

You need to get up and, throughout the course of your day, take at least 5000-10,000 steps. Those are not difficult numbers to achieve. When I wake up on a workday, I basically just get ready and then head off to my job. By the time I get to my desk, I have already taken about 300 steps.

 

     Go out and buy a pedometer. They are cheap and very easy to use. If you want, you could get one of those fitness tracking watches with a pedometer built in to it. I use an app on my phone to track my steps. It not only helps me reach those goals, but it also makes it so I don’t forget my phone. I’ll admit that I don’t get every step recorded because I do not always pick up my phone before walking, but I still go by what it says my steps are to reach at least the minimum range.

If you find that you’re not quite there, add some more walking. Get up from your desk and walk around. Take the dog, your children, your partner or yourself for a walk around the block. Walk around the house during commercials. March in place. Do whatever you must to hit the minimum daily requirement.

 

     I was asked if eating before a workout is necessary and when it should be done. For weight loss purposes, it is not. However, if you find that you are burnt out before your workout or quite drained during it, that is a sign that you need some fuel. Power bars and protein bars that are around 200 calories or less, and that are not packed with refined sugars, are great for this. If you go this route, be sure that you are getting about 10 grams of protein and some carbs into you about an hour before your workout. The carbs will give you an initial boost of usable energy and the protein will help you to maintain it later.

 

     Cardio is great for weight loss. Walk, run, jog, skip, crawl... get mobile to get thinner faster. Aerobics are a great means to get cardio and a little strength in at the same time. If you plan on hitting a gym and doing some lifting, decrease your cardio some to save energy for the weights. I used to do a half hour of cardio before and after my strength training. It’s not needed. Stretch and then do 10-15 minutes of light cardio at the start a workout, or do 10-15 minutes at the end of your wourkout, before you do your final stretches to cool down. That’s all you really need. I would recommend getting some in before and after though. The fluid movement will help warm up your muscles at the beginning and help to loosen up and prevent muscle pain at the end.

 

     Even though more muscle equals more calories burned, you don’t want to bulk up before seeing the transformation caused by losing all that weight. Besides, regardless of what type of activity you do, you will put on some muscle in the beginning and experience weight loss without having to push yourself very hard.

 

     When you are focusing on losing weight, incorporating some strength training into your routine is a good thing. Not only will it promote muscle development, the exertion will keep those calories torching.

 

     The key here is to get the exercise, gain some strength and some endurance without getting huge. To do that, you want to use lower weights with higher reps per set. If you can manage 6-8 reps of 40lbs, knock that weight down to 30lbs and do 12-16 reps per set. When you are working legs, instead of dropping to about 75% weight, cut to 85% at 18-20 reps per set. Most programs that I have read up on say to do 4 sets and talk about pushing so hard and getting near or to failure. That’s too much when your goal is to see lower numbers on the scale. For this program, you only do 3 sets of each exercise with 30-90 seconds of rest in between them.

 

     So, that’s 3 sets of 12-16 reps at 75% weight with 30-90 seconds of rest in between sets. Legs are the same, but with 20 reps and cut to 85% weight. This method will help to get you lean, keep you lean and tone you up a little as the weight comes off. Working out like this also makes it easier enough on your body so you don’t have to isolate your routine to only a few muscle groups a day. You can do your full body every time if you wish.

 

     Down a good dose of protein within half an hour of finishing your workout. Get that protein in your body as close to finishing your routine as possible. This is a great time to have some of that whey protein isolate that I spoke of in the supplements section.

With following this plan, you do not have to do cardio or weights every day, but you can if you want because you will not experience the pain that many feel after a big workout. Always remember to get your rest though. Your body needs that time to recoup.

 

     You should add additional activities on top of your daily steps at least 3 days a week. It doesn’t have to be crazy, like hours worth of working out on those days. Get in 30 to 90 minutes. You aren’t taking very long breaks between sets and exercises, so most of that time is spent working.

 

     For example, when I was on this part, I would go to the gym, stretch, do cardio, work my core, train weights, do more cardio, stretch, shower and then done... and I’d be there for three hours and I would just be dripping with sweat, but there was no pain afterwards. I am not saying that you have to go and workout for three hours. You don’t. It took me a bit to realize that for myself.

 

     One more thing, if you can get a heavy bag and some gloves, do it. You can do so much with one and it’s a great workout and amazing way to rid yourself of frustrations and stress. I very highly recommend it.